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Never Tickle a Tiger

Author: Pamela Butchart
Illustrator: Marc Boutavant

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Review

For fidgety children everywhere, especially those who don't heed good advice, this cautionary tale shows what the unconsidered consequences can be when we can't understand just why we're told never to do something. Having ignored her teacher's instructions not to touch the animals, and poked and tapped and bothered several, Izzy goes off to tickle the tiger. This has repercussions (cleverly shown on two fold-outs) which nearly destroy the zoo, but Izzy takes control, and manages to restore order. But does she learn?

Lively colourful illustrations move the action forward, as does the alliterative, repetitive text, introducing readers to the actions and sounds of the animals in the zoo.

As a child, Pamela was lucky enough to grow up in a house full of pets, have a mum and dad who were bonkers, and go to The Best Most Awesome Primary School in the World™. As a student, Pamela's student jobs included: fishwife, teaching basketball in America, phlebotomist, and Artist Liaison for a (really bad) Abba tribute band. Now, Pamela teaches philosophy to teenagers and spends all day pondering questions such as, 'Is time travel possible?' and 'How do I know I'm not really a robot?' The stories write themselves, really…

There's a long history of tigers cropping up in children's books - and they don't only pop round for tea... Here are some of our favourite 'tiger' books for you to share with your little one, full of fantastic drawings of this iconic creature.